March 21, 2012

Bright lights in our midst

The highway leading to Brock University cuts past vast Lake Ontario shoreline, row after row of tangled grapevine, an industrious shipping canal and over storied stretches of this country’s rich history.

I thought of this on a recent drive to the town and country feel campus of Brock University in St. Catharines to attend a career night organized by the Department of Communications, Popular Culture and Film.

I went to give advice and came out with a notebook filled with new insight. I was hesitant and thought long and hard about what advice I could offer about my chosen industry. I’m bullish about the newspaper industry – I believe it has a long and healthy and exciting future. There’s always a story to tell and many ways, more ways than we ever had, to share facts and photos and truths and narratives. It’s a great industry, but the job market in our field – any communications for that matter - isn’t what it used to be. Consolidation, new technology, cuts, mergers, the economy have drastically changed the media landscape.

The panel opened with vignettes and advice from recent Brock Comm grads and, looking back, I’m remiss I didn’t tape their talks to showcase to others. All twenty somethings who have a good story to tell. Somewhere along the way, someone opened the session with a maudlin joke something along the lines of: “What’s the difference between a person with an xxx degree and a large pizza? Well the pizza can feed a family of four.”

This was a not a night to be maudlin. Savanna Schaus talked about getting work with a marketing/communications firm that soon failed. She quickly learned from the hardship of job loss, believed what she had learned was true and started her own firm. She now successfully runs Savy Communications. Steve Sears collaborated with a group of Gen Y’ers and entered a national newspaper challenge to engage a young adult audience. His group won first place and his work directly influenced that paper’s digital strategy. He’s now working full-time in the media field. Timur Inceoglu runs indoorshoes.ca – the company doesn’t have anything to do with shoes, it’s just a catchy name for his business which scouts and books musical talent. Timur turned his love of music into a business. “We put on shows. We put out records.” is the company’s tagline. Adrian Thiessen’s work can be seen on national tv and websites. His love of film and communication knowledge led him and others to start fourgrounds media inc. They started shooting, editing and showing student videos and worked their way up. Now they deal with national brands and major agencies.

What struck me was not the success, but the drive. Each grad said over and over, they didn’t know they would end up where they are. I’m sensitive to that because I’m routinely asked what the correct path to journalism is. Here’s a hint: there isn’t a singular path. One of the best journalists I know doesn’t have a j-background. He’s a science major.

The best journalists are curious, sensitive, creative and dogged.

When the panel rolled around to me, I felt like handing out my resume to the other panelists – all bright, creative hardworking people who are and will continue to make a difference. I was pleased to share the stage with them. Here’s the advice I had to offer:

- Develop a mentor/advocate. Find someone who can help navigate the rabbit warrens of academic and workplace code. It’s also called engaging the fox – someone who knows their way around and is willing to share their knowledge and experience to get you to where you need to go.

- Create your own personal board of governors. Surround yourself with a small group of trusted advisors, people who you trust to give you unvarnished advice – praise and sanction.

- There’s no substitution for hard work. Time and place are important and luck does play a role. Work hard, gain experience. That gives you insight, street cred and ability to stretch your own goals and experiences.

- Don’t look for a finish line. Time and time again I hear stories from people who started on one path and ended up happily and successfully somewhere else. A life and work well-lived is rarely linear.